By Susan Candiotti
(CNN) — Dick’s Sporting Goods, one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world, says it has removed all guns from its store nearest to Newtown, Connecticut, and is suspending the sale of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its chains nationwide. The move was made out of respect for the victims and families of last week’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting “during this time of national mourning,” the store said in a statement Tuesday morning.
“We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this terrible tragedy,” the statement said.
It was unclear how long the store will keep the suspension in place for the guns, known as ‘modern sporting rifles.’
It’s also not known whether this is the first time the store has taken such a step after a shooting that made national headlines.
A search of Dick’s Sporting Goods website early Tuesday morning showed a blank page for “modern sporting rifles.”
The move comes after reports that investigators were trying to determine whether the gunman in the Newtown shooting, Adam Lanza, tried to buy a gun from a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in the city of Danbury, about 12 miles away.
“At this time, reports that the suspect visited one of our stores last week have not been confirmed by law enforcement,” the sporting goods store said in a statement. “Based on our records, we can confirm that no firearms were sold to the suspect identified in this case.”
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